Both implicit and explicit learning can have positive effects in terms of knowledge retention. However, when it comes to learning a language, one may find that studying the rules and knowing grammar is not enough compared to the implicit learning that allows a person to study subconsciously while surrounded by information. Researchers mention that students who acquire a second language implicitly are more likely to be more successful in utilizing it (Al-Obaydi, 2020). This may be facilitated by the fact that the brain retains information without the learner’s effort to be precise about what is being studied and how it is being perceived. As a result, implicit studying becomes a more efficient way of L2 learning.
A person moving to a country where everyone speaks another language may be more perceptive to have the skill of learning the language by being an active part of an environment that utilizes it. On the other hand, someone who gets acquainted with all the grammar rules and the vocabulary without directly using the language outside the studies is not under the circumstances of becoming proficient in speaking it. Instead, the focus is on the details that facilitate the speech to be academically correct, which may not correlate with the standard use that can be heard by native speakers.
The evidence highlighting implicit learning to be efficient is the lack of effort that comes along with the explicit method. The learner does not view studying as a task since it is more subconscious. On the other hand, extensive lessons, homework, and other concepts which apply to explicit studying of a second language may result in exhaustion and perceiving the lessons as a chore rather than a new skill to be acquired. Based on these arguments, it is inevitable that explicit L2 learning is effective and proficient for those applying this method.
References
Al-Obaydi, L. H. (2020). Towards implicit vocabulary acquisition of young learners: The use of input flooding and peripheral learning. The Journal of AsiaTEFL, 17(3), 1102–1110. Web.